ALBANY, Ga., Feb. 12, 2015 /3BL Media/ — The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) and Constellation, a subsidiary of Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC), today announced the development of an up to 50-megawatt biomass plant that will help run one of P&G’s largest U.S. facilities. The plant will significantly increase P&G’s use of renewable energy, helping move the company closer to its 2020 goal of obtaining 30 percent of its total energy from renewable sources.

Constellation will build, own and operate the $200 million cogeneration plant, which will supply steam to P&G’s Albany, Ga., paper manufacturing facility and generate electricity for the local utility, Georgia Power.

For more than 30 years, the Albany facility has successfully used a smaller onsite biomass boiler to convert wood scraps into renewable steam, providing about 30 percent of the total energy. The new facility will replace P&G’s aging boiler with a highly efficient combined heat and power biomass unit. Incoming biomass will provide 100 percent of the steam, and up to 60-70 percent of the total energy used to manufacture Bounty paper towels and Charmin toilet tissue.

“At P&G, we are committed to improving the environmental sustainability of our products across all aspects of their life cycle – from manufacturing, packaging, delivery and consumer use,” said Martin Riant, P&G Executive Sponsor of Sustainability and Group President, Global Baby and Feminine & Family Care. “As this project enables us to operate one of our largest global plants with a renewable energy source, it will reduce the environmental footprint of two leading brands, Bounty and Charmin. We see this as a win for our business, consumers, partners and the environment.”

The facility is Constellation’s newest project in its active and growing distributed energy business, which has more than 300 megawatts of assets in operation or under development.

“Constellation is uniquely positioned to help support Procter & Gamble’s renewable energy goals because of our leadership in both retail energy supply and distributed generation,” said Constellation Senior Vice President of Distributed Energy Gary Fromer. “Increasingly, our customers are looking for comprehensive energy options that enhance operational efficiencies and sustainability. Constellation can deliver innovative, clean energy solutions that drive value for our customers.”

In the initial planning for the facility, P&G and Constellation outlined sustainable “procurement standards” for the project. The plant’s fuel supply will come from biomass that would otherwise have been left to decay, burned, or potentially sent to landfill, including discarded tree tops, limbs, branches and scrap wood from local forestry operations, crop residuals, such as pecan shells and peanut hulls, and mill waste, such as sawdust.

These standards complement P&G’s responsible wood fiber procurement policy for its tissue, towel and absorbent hygiene business, as well as Constellation’s commitment to energy options for customers that benefit the environment.

“We applaud P&G’s efforts to support renewable energy as part of its commitment to sustainability and for prioritizing responsible sourcing of inputs as an essential element of the project” said Suzanne Apple, SVP, Private Sector Engagement at World Wildlife Fund. WWF and P&G have been working together for over four years on sustainable business practices, including the company’s emissions reductions and renewable energy.

Georgia Power’s purchase of energy from Constellation, at or below Georgia Power’s avoided cost, is part of the company’s multifaceted strategy to encourage and cultivate renewable energy sources in Georgia and was made possible under a program developed in coordination with and approved by the Georgia Public Service Commission. Constellation is currently under contract to sell 42 MW of capacity and energy from the 50 MW facility to Georgia Power.

“We’re committed to working with our customers, including leading Georgia businesses such as Procter & Gamble, to create new avenues for renewable energy innovation,” said Norrie McKenzie, vice president of renewable development for Georgia Power. “The Albany project is a perfect illustration of this continued effort.”

The project also included collaboration with the Albany-Dougherty Payroll Development Authority, local city, county and state leaders, including leadership and ongoing support from the Georgia Public Service Commission, as well as energy companies. DCO Energy will hold a minority stake in the project and provide engineering, procurement and construction services for the project. Constellation’s affiliate, Exelon Generation, will operate and maintain the plant. Sterling Energy Assets worked with Constellation to develop the project.

“We are proud to be part of a project that will help shape the sustainable use of biomass energy, and that has such an impact for Procter & Gamble and for Albany, who have a more than 40-year relationship,” said Dorothy Hubbard, Albany Mayor and Chair of the Albany-Dougherty Payroll Development Authority. “This project will strengthen Albany’s Procter & Gamble facility and create jobs and business opportunities for Albany and Southwest Georgia.”

Construction activities have already begun on the site with the plant scheduled to begin commercial operation in June 2017. Construction is expected to create up to 500 new jobs over the next two years, with an additional 50 to 70 permanent local jobs for ongoing operations once the plant is built.

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About Procter & Gamble
P&G serves nearly five billion people around the world with its brands. The Company has one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Always®, Ambi Pur®, Ariel®, Bounty®, Charmin®, Crest®, Dawn®, Downy®, Fairy®, Febreze®, Gain®, Gillette®, Head & Shoulders®, Lenor®, Olay®, Oral-B®, Pampers®, Pantene®, SK-II®, Tide®, Vicks®, Wella® and Whisper®. The P&G community includes operations in approximately 70 countries worldwide. Please visit http://www.pg.com for the latest news and in-depth information about P&G and its brands. Learn more about P&G’s sustainability goals at: http://www.pg.com/sustainability.

About Constellation
Constellation is a leading competitive retail supplier of power, natural gas and energy products and services for homes and businesses across the continental United States. Constellation’s family of retail businesses serves more than 2.5 million residential, public sector and business customers, including more than two-thirds of the Fortune 100. Baltimore-based Constellation is a subsidiary of Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC), the nation’s leading competitive energy provider, with 2013 revenues of approximately $24.9 billion, and more than 35,000 megawatts of owned capacity comprising one of the nation’s cleanest and lowest-cost power generation fleets. Learn more at www.constellation.com or on Twitter at @ConstellationEG.

Smithfield Foods Continues “Sustainability Stories” Web Series With a Look at Environmental Performance

SMITHFIELD, Va., Jan. 13, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Kinesha Allen, the environmental manager at the Smithfield Farmland facility in Smithfield, Virginia, is part of a team that helps keep the plant’s environmental performance on track. Allen and her teammates are committed to fulfilling one of Smithfield Foods’ key sustainability commitments, reducing the company’s environmental footprint, and she is featured in the latest installment of multi-media “sustainability stories” on Smithfieldcommitments.com.

“The environmental performance of all our plants—in the U.S. and internationally—receives a lot of attention, and we work hard to improve every year,” said Larry Pope, Smithfield’s president and chief executive officer. “Kinesha is part of that effort as are virtually all the employees who work for Smithfield Foods and our independent operating companies.”

Allen has a passion for the environment, and her responsibilities run the gamut from checking water and energy usage to volunteering at local schools. She’s proud of her team’s performance. “We’ve won several environmental awards at this facility. The most recent one would be the 2014 Business Partner of the Year through the Virginia Recycling Association,” Allen said.

For more than a decade, Smithfield Foods has been committed to conducting business in a manner that reduces its environmental impact. Over the years Smithfield has augmented and improved its environmental management systems, enabling the company to reduce its use of key resources, including water, energy and land.

Smithfield also sets challenging targets to further elevate its performance around water, energy, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and solid waste. Not only has this made good economic and environmental sense, but the company’s focus on improvement has resulted in reaching some of those targets ahead of schedule.

Smithfield believes that sustainability is a journey, not a destination, and corporations must continually strive to exceed what is expected of them. This belief is ingrained in the culture and operations at Smithfield Foods. The online sustainability stories help share Smithfield’s journey and introduce the people who create this culture.

Smithfield Foods is a $14 billion global food company and the world’s largest pork processor and hog producer. In the United States the company is also the leader in numerous packaged meats categories with popular brands including Smithfield®, Eckrich®, Farmland®, Armour®, Cook’s®, Gwaltney®, John Morrell®, Kretschmar®, Curly’s®, Carando®, Margherita® and Healthy Ones®. Smithfield Foods is committed to providing good food in a responsible way and maintains robust animal care, community involvement, employee safety, environmental, and food safety and quality programs. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com and www.smithfieldcommitments.com.

Quick Guide for Cultivating Sustainability Within an Organization:

GEMI today announced the availability of a solution toolkit, the GEMI Quick Guide on Cultivating Sustainability Within an Organization.

“The GEMI Quick Guide for Cultivating Sustainability Within an Organization is designed to provide insights for how corporations demonstrate and communicate the value of sustainability and activate internal resources to achieve sustainability objectives,” said GEMI’s Chair, Lori Williams, Business Strategy Principal, FedEx Corporation. Williams continued, “One of the most important factors for establishing a successful sustainability program is ensuring employees understand, embrace and pursue approaches that foster a productive and thriving organization built on long-term business processes that promote economic development, environmental stewardship and social responsibility.”

GEMI’s Communications Chair, Bob Toy, Director of Environmental Sustainability, Union Pacific stated, “This Guide discusses how a company can promote, motivate, and accelerate sustainability within an organization by defining business opportunities and risks, establishing tangible objectives for sustainability projects or programs, identifying meaningful and relevant issues, and communicating effectively with stakeholders.” He continued, “This is the second in a series of GEMI Quick Guides that have been developed. The first GEMI Quick Guide addressed renewable energy opportunities for companies.”

GEMI’s Executive Director, Steve Hellem stated, “The objective of the GEMI Quick Guide toolkit series is to provide a closer look into the methods corporations use to address sustainability topics. These guides feature best practices to address real-time issues and topics of sustainability concepts, accompanied by mini case studies from GEMI member companies.” He continued, “We are pleased that this tool highlights the activities and experiences of 3M, Ashland, ConocoPhillips, P&G, Perdue Farms, Phillips66, Smithfield Foods, and Union Pacific, and thank Maria Dunn of Phillips66 for her leadership in this Quick Guide’s development.”

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) released its 16th annual sustainability report today, detailing projects and goals that are reducing the environmental footprint of the Company and of those who use its products, while improving social conditions for those with the greatest need.

The 2014 report underlines the Company’s commitment to create industry-leading value with brands and products that consumers prefer, while at the same time conserving resources, protecting the environment.

The report highlights P&G reaching its waste reduction goal six years early and its pulp certification goal a year early, and growing to 70 the number of global facilities delivering zero manufacturing waste to landfill (video). In addition, P&G delivered its 7 billionth liter of clean drinking water through The P&G Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program (CSDW) and delivered disaster relief to millions of people around the world. The report details P&G’s work on:

exceeding its waste reduction goal by achieving only 0.4 percent of input materials being disposed of as manufacturing waste to landfill across all its facilities; the goal called for less than 0.5 percent by 2020.

exceeding its waste reduction goal by achieving only 0.4 percent of input materials being disposed of as manufacturing waste to landfill across all its facilities; the goal called for less than 0.5 percent by 2020.

reducing total emissions by 14 percent, and installing two co-generation energy systems that will considerably reduce CO2 emissions, including 120,000 less metric tons per year at its largest global plant in Mehoopany, PA.

delivering innovations including Mr. Clean Liquid Muscle that includes a 2.5x compaction formula with 45 percent less packaging and 64 percent less water per bottle, along with a unique single-dosing cap that ensures people don’t use too much.

helping drive to 53 percent the number of machine laundry washes done in cold water through consumer education programs, closing in on its goal of 70 percent cold-water washes, as washing in hot water is one of the largest uses of energy in a family home.

ABOUT GEMI

GEMI is the global leader in developing insights, networking, and creating collaborative sustainability solutions for business. For 25 years, GEMI has captured the vision and experience of global corporate environmental, health and safety (EHS) and sustainability leaders from diverse business sectors through the development of a wide range of publicly-available, solutions-based tools designed to help companies improve the environment, their operations and add business value.